BlogCatalog

Friday, May 9, 2008

The Associated Press is reporting that Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) has endorsed Barack Obama for President. Senator Obama now needs just 167 delegates to secure the nomination...

"WASHINGTON -- Rep. Rick Larsen said Thursday that he is endorsing Barack Obama for president. Larsen, a four-term Democrat who represents Everett, Bellingham and other areas north of Seattle, said Obama was "the best candidate to turn our best hopes for a better future into reality."

Obama's performance this week in primaries in North Carolina and Indiana show "he can take a pounding and come back strong to deliver his message of hope and change. He is tough as nails," Larsen said.

Larsen joins at least four other Washington "superdelegates" who have endorsed the Illinois senator: Gov. Chris Gregoire; Reps. Adam Smith and Brian Baird, his state chairman; and Pat Notter, a member of the Democratic National Committee."

CBS reports that Speaker Nancy Pelosi jumped out of her weekly press briefing to greet Senator Obama during his visit to the House of Reps.

Sen. Barack Obama stepped into a swarm of superdelegates yesterday morning when he visited the House of Representatives in the middle of a vote. Obama stayed on the floor for almost half an hour visiting with both Democrats and Republicans who looked completely star struck.

Even Speaker Nancy Pelosi left her weekly press briefing and made a beeline for the House floor to say hello. And the Capitol Hill press corps surrounded the House Chamber to catch him on his way out and fire questions about such an unusual move for a presidential candidate, even if he is a senator.

It seems the floodgates are beginning to open. We are seeing a steady flow of superdelegates throwing their support Obama...FINALLY, this primary is coming to an end!!

"The movement of Democratic superdelegates to presidential hopeful Barack Obama gained steam Friday, with endorsements expected from two more congressmen.

Obama spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said the Illinois senator plans to receive the endorsement of Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon an event Friday in his homestate. Oregon holds it's primary on May 20.

In New Jersey, Donald Payne—a black congressman who had been backing Clinton for the nomination—is switching his support to Obama, Pfeiffer confirmed.

"After careful consideration, I have reached the conclusion that Barack Obama can best bring about the change that our country so desperately wants and needs," Payne told The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J. It was "one of the most difficult decisions I have made," Payne said. "I've really been mulling it over for quite a while."

"This is an amazing story. The Democratic Party has a winner. It has a ominee. You know this because he has the most votes and the most elected delegates, and there's no way, mathematically, his opponent can get past him. Even after the worst two weeks of his campaign, he blew past her by 14 in North Carolina and came within two in Indiana.

He's got this thing. And the Democratic Party, after this long and brutal slog, should be dancing in the streets. Party elders should be coming out on the balcony in full array, in full regalia, and telling the crowd, "Habemusnominatum": "We have a nominee." And the crowd below should be cheering, "Viva Obamus! Viva nominatum!"

I ran across a great article written by Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post today. It discusses Hillary's latest statement to USA Today, in which she basically implies that Obama, as a black man, cannot secure her base of delusional, "hardworking white" supporters. She completely dismisses the importance of the black vote, which is the democratic party's most loyal group of constituents.

If Clinton believes this new argument will help her take the nomination away from Obama, she is sadly mistaken. And more importantly, if the democratic party believes they can somehow take the nomination away from Obama (who is leading in pledged delegates, leading in the popular vote, and has won twice as many states as Clinton) and still have the support of African Americans, they are sadly mistaken.

With that said, here's a little of what Eugene has to say on this topic...

"From the beginning, Hillary Clinton has campaigned as if the Democratic nomination were hers by divine right. That's why she is falling short -- and that's why she should be persuaded to quit now, rather than later, before her majestic sense of entitlement splits the party along racial lines...

If that sounds harsh, look at the argument she made Wednesday, in an interview with USA Today, as to why she should be the nominee instead of Barack Obama. She cited an Associated Press article "that found how Senator Obama's support . . . among working, hardworking Americans, white Americans, is weakening again. I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on."

As a statement of fact, that's debatable at best. As a rationale for why Democratic Party superdelegates should pick her over Obama, it's a slap in the face to the party's most loyal constituency -- African Americans -- and a repudiation of principles the party claims to stand for. Here's what she's really saying to party leaders: There's no way that white people are going to vote for the black guy. Come November, you'll be sorry."

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Congressman Miller said, “Senator Obama understands that he has the chance not just to win the election this year, but to be a great president. Americans know that Republican policies have failed because their ideas are wrong. Americans know that our government has not acted, to use Franklin Roosevelt’s words, as trustees for the whole people, but have taken the side of powerful economic interests on every issue. Americans want a fundamental change in course. Senator Obama has seized that opportunity...

“If Senator Obama and Democratic candidates up and down the ticket win this year and then deliver next year, we can build a consensus that will last a generation..."

Senator Obama said, “We are grateful today for Congressman Brad Miller’s support. In this time of economic turmoil, Congressman Miller has shown real leadership in fighting to crack down on predatory lenders and provide relief for struggling homeowners. Our campaign was fortunate to have record numbers of voters turn out to support our movement for change this week in North Carolina, and I’m proud to have Congressman Miller’s support as we continue this fight to bring about real change for families across the country.”

In a recent issue of TIME magazine, Toni Morrison was asked 10 questions, two of which relating to Clinton and Obama. Here's what she had to say...

Do you regret referring to Bill Clinton as the first black President? "People misunderstood that phrase. I was deploring the way in which President Clinton was being treated, vis-à-vis the sex scandal that was surrounding him. I said he was being treated like a black on the street, already guilty, already a perp. I have no idea what his real instincts are, in terms of race."

Why did you endorse Barack Obama for the presidency? "I thought about voting for Hillary at the beginning. I don't care that she is a woman. I need more than that. Neither his race, his gender, her race or her gender was enough. I needed something else, and the something else was his wisdom."

Lawrence O'Donnell of the Huffington Post is reporting the following...

"A senior campaign official and Clinton confidante has told me that there will be a Democratic nominee by June 15. He could not bring himself to say the words "Hillary will drop out by June 15," but that is clearly what he meant. I kept saying, "So, Hillary will drop out by June 15," and he kept saying, "We will have a nominee by June 15." He stressed what a reasonable person Hillary is...

Everything about our conversation implied that he had already had this reality-based discussion with Hillary. He said the Clinton campaign plan is to collect as many votes and delegates as they can right through June 3, then take no more than a week or so to make their case to the superdelegates. Nothing he said indicated that he actually expected the superdelegates to move to Hillary in the week after the final election. The Clinton campaign has not lost its grip on reality. Yes, Clinton spokespersons publicly seem to be lost on gravity-free planet Clinton, but privately they know the end is near."

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama pocketed the support of at least four Democratic convention superdelegates on Wednesday, May 7th building on the momentum from a convincing North Carolina primary victory. Rival Hillary Rodham Clinton disclosed she had loaned her strapped campaign an additional $6.4 million in recent weeks.

Clinton showed no sign of surrender in the presidential race, but former Sen. George McGovern, the party's 1972 presidential candidate, urged her to reconsider.

Obama was at home in Chicago during the day as his aides spread word that he would soon begin campaigning in states likely to be pivotal in the fall campaign. They also relayed word of the four endorsements, expected to be made public later in the day. Both disclosures were meant to signal fresh confidence that the nomination was quickly coming into his possession after a grueling marathon across 15 months and nearly all 50 states...

Former Sen. Gorge McGovern, an early supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton, urged her to drop out of the Democratic presidential race and endorsed her rival, Barack Obama.

After watching the returns from the North Carolina and Indiana primaries Tuesday night, McGovern said Wednesday it's virtually impossible for Clinton to win the nomination. The 1972 Democratic presidential nominee said he had a call in to former President Clinton to tell him of the decision, adding that he remains close friends with the Clintons.

"I will hold them in affection and admiration all of my days," he said of the Clintons.

McGovern's announcement comes a day before Clinton was scheduled to travel to South Dakota to campaign. The state holds its primary June 3 with 15 pledged delegates at stake.

No one has ever come close to this in history. And it was done by the Internet, destroying the power of major donors to control a candidate, empowering so many to make a difference and altering the face of campaign finance for ever. And yet the Democrats are seriously considering rebuking this astonishing achievement in favor of an old nepotistic pol whose campaign, when it hasn't been incompetent and complacent, has been straight from the Rove playbook

That sum means the campaign is fairly clearly into Bill Clinton's earnings, in theory making it more difficult to avoid questions about the source of his income. The last loan, Clinton's aides said, was drawn from Hillary's book earnings.

Though these are techically loans, these are very difficult to repay, as they must be paid from primary funds. There's some speculation this morning that Obama could help Clinton retire debt, possibly including the campaign's debt to her.

Sen. Barack Obama took a large and potentially decisive step toward the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, making dramatic symbolic and numerical gains in North Carolina and Indiana.

Obama’s emphatic North Carolina victory, and a narrow loss in Indiana, extended his lead in the count of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and in most counts of the combined popular vote.

As important, they diminished Clinton’s rationale for urging Democratic superdelegates to override his delegate lead and give the nomination to her.

Sen. Barack Obama took a large and potentially decisive step toward the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, making dramatic symbolic and numerical gains in North Carolina and Indiana.

Obama’s emphatic North Carolina victory, and a narrow loss in Indiana, extended his lead in the count of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and in most counts of the combined popular vote.

As important, they diminished Clinton’s rationale for urging Democratic superdelegates to override his delegate lead and give the nomination to her.

We just won a decisive victory in North Carolina thanks to people like you.

Indiana remains too close to call. But what is clear is that we did much better than all the pundits predicted, despite Republicans changing parties to support Senator Clinton, believing she would be easier for Senator McCain to defeat.

Here's where we stand.

As of Tuesday morning, we needed just 273 delegates to clinch the nomination. When the votes are fully counted Wednesday morning, we will have gained more than a third of them in a single day.

We have a clear path to victory. But now is the time for each one of us to step up and do what we can to close out this primary.

The results from the two primaries, the largest remaining Democratic ones, assured that Mr. Obama would widen his lead in pledged delegates over Mrs. Clinton, providing him with new ammunition as he seeks to persuade Democratic leaders to coalesce around his campaign. He also increased his lead in the popular vote in winning North Carolina by more than 200,000 votes.

"Don't ever forget that we have a choice in this country," Mr. Obama said in an address in Raleigh, N.C., that carried the unity themes of a convention speech. "We can choose not to be divided; that we can choose not to be afraid; that we can still choose this moment to finally come together and solve the problems we've talked about all those other years in all those other elections."

Barack Obama's quest to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination got a lift with a big win in North Carolina and a strong run in Indiana, where he did significantly better than expected against the favored Hillary Clinton.

... Tuesday's results will influence the ongoing and ultimately decisive "invisible primary" for the support of superdelegates -- the governors, members of Congress and party officers who can vote for any candidate at Democrats' late-August convention. Sen. Obama has cut Sen. Clinton's early big lead to about 15 superdelegates -- he has an estimated 255 to her 270

... He leads in pledged delegates won in the previous 45 primaries and caucuses, and likely will reach a majority of pledged delegates with the Oregon and Kentucky primaries.

Sen. Barack Obama scored a landslide victory in North Carolina's Democratic presidential primary yesterday, moving him ever closer to locking up an insurmountable lead among pledged delegates, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton posted a razor-thin win in the hotly contested Indiana primary...

... The twin results solidified the status quo in the Democratic race, one that now gives Obama the clear advantage in the battle for the nomination because of his solid lead in the tally of pledged delegates. Despite her Indiana victory, Clinton emerged even more the underdog in the nomination battle.

Monday, May 5, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS — Early voting in Indiana could offer some encouragement to presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who needs a victory in its upcoming primary after a tough few weeks on the campaign trail.

Obama victories in the Indiana and North Carolina primaries on May 6 could help him regain momentum in his nomination fight against Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama has been on the defensive because of comments by his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and his own comments about people in small towns growing bitter.

About 20 percent of the 127,000-plus absentee ballots received as of early Friday were cast in three Indiana counties: Marion, Monroe and Lake - that political observers believe Obama is strongly favored to win.